Burkina Faso: More than 35 people killed in two attacks

Gunmen opened fire on traders and customers at the Kompiembiga cattle market, 15 kilometers from the town of Pama on the Fada-Pama road in the east of Burkina Faso on Saturday 30 May. At least 25 civilians were killed in the attack, which is attributed to armed terrorist groups, according to the regional governor.

A resident accounts that ‘‘the market targeted by the attack was infiltrated by armed men and others were riding around with their motorcycles. People thought they were part of the defense and security forces on patrol.” “When people realized they were not soldiers, there was panic and that’s how the killing started,” he says.

This aggression took place on the same day as the attack on a humanitarian convoy in the north-central part of the country, which killed 10 people.

Saturday’s attacks came a day after a convoy of mainly shopkeepers escorted by a local self-defense unit came under fire in the north of the West African country, killing 15 people. That attack, in Loroum province, was also blamed on jihadists.

There is now anger among the people of Kompiembiga after this attack. “Since the attack on the market, we have seen no reaction from the authorities. We have the armed forces who are not far away, but no one has come to our rescue,” an outraged resident told the media.

The inhabitants of Pama, the neighboring town, have decided to close their market for 72 hours in support of the people of Kompiembiga. A demonstration is planned this Monday June 1 to denounce the insecurity in the region.

The east and north of the former French colony are the hardest hit by attacks by jihadists, who have killed more than 900 people and caused some 860,000 people to flee their homes in the past five years.